Briefing Paper January 2012

29th January 2012 7:50 pm

As well as enjoying absolute impunity regarding ongoing and historic crimes, Israel has recently enacted further legislation to shield itself from scrutiny. In July 2011, it passed the anti-democratic Boycott Law which prohibits its citizens from boycotting the State’s colonial and apartheid practices and subjects them to civil suits by its settler population, with no necessity for the settlers to prove that damage was actually done.

In the face of mounting violations in a context of tumultuous changes, the US insists upon tired remedies, namely a peace process devoid of reference to international law, which serves only to give more time to Israel to continue its expansion.

Editorial al Majdal issue 46

As the siege continues Gaza’s children find sustenance in trash picking

Shaima Mustafa Islamonline.net -Gaza 2 Sept 2011

As the sun rises, Ahmed, 15, escorts his three siblings to landfills. There, they spend long hours searching through the trash for anything they can sell, use, or even eat. By their side, dozens of children, teens, and women are partaking in the same “activity”. This scene is not from a television series or a movie, it is a real-life scene; a scene that has repeating itself for years, especially after the siege had been imposed on Gaza. Despite the bitterness and cruelty of this scenery, it is a rather normal event for dozens of Gazan children; in their eyes, piles of trash are piles treasure.

No tears for warmonger Liam Fox: Dangerous beliefs and connections to the political underworld made him unemployable as a British minister

Ahead of a widely-expected Israeli-led attack on Iran, Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre, an elitist pro-Israeli lobbying firm, has been caught “briefing” the British mainstream media on how to present news items relating to Israel, bragging in a leaked email of how BBC and Sky News editors “changed their narrative” on stories after meeting with BICOM representatives.

It’s not that Israel is finding new ways to expel Palestinians, it’s that no one cares Israel routinely produces new ploys to counter Palestinian pleas for justice. But is anybody interested?

Amira Hass Ha’aretz 14 Nov 2011

The affair of the rapist president Moshe Katsav is always associated in my mind with my limitations as a journalist. And the mention of the week in which the affair became public (after July 8, 2006 ) brings to mind the Israeli expulsion bureaucracy.

Over 1000 American and International Zionists joined 700 extremist settlers in Hebron this weekend to celebrate the reading of the Torah portion detailing Abraham’s biblical purchase of Hebron land, and to assert sovereignty over the Palestinian residents of Hebron.

Stone cold justice

John Lyons The Australian 26 November 2011

Some cases contain horrifying allegations, such as this one from Ahmad, 15, documented by DCI, who was taken from his home at 2am, blindfolded and accused of throwing stones. “I managed to see the dog from under my blindfold,” he says. “They brought the dog’s food and put it on my head. I think it was a piece of bread, and the dog had to eat it off my head. His saliva started drooling all over my head and that freaked me out. I was so scared my body started shaking … they saw me shaking and started laughing … Then they put another piece of bread on my trousers near my genitals, so I tried to move away but he started barking. I was terrified.

Confronting intimidation, working for justice in Palestine

Every year since I moved there, Zionist organizations in the UK and the US have asked the university to investigate my work and were brushed aside. This year a similar appeal was taken, momentarily one should say, seriously. One hopes this was just a temporary lapse; but you never know with an academic institution (bravery is not one of their hallmarks).

World must interfere in Israel’s internal affairs

The new world will eventually tell Israel: Stay in the occupied territories, but give all its residents equal rights and justice. What will Israel say then? Interference in its internal affairs? Foreign intervention? You’ve got to be kidding.

Israel has 101 different types of permits governing Palestinian movement

Israel’s “Civil Administration” issues 101 different types of permits to govern the movement of Palestinians, whether within the West Bank, between the West Bank and Israel or beyond the borders of the state, according to an agency document of which Haaretz obtained a copy. The most common permits are those allowing Palestinians to work in Israel, or in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Over the decades, however, the permit regimen has grown into a vast, triple-digit bureaucracy.